Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 104: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to his recent circular indicating changes in the appointment procedures for home-school community liaison posts, if he will confirm that he does not intend to make further cutbacks to the home-school liaison co-ordinators' role within DEIS schools; the changes he intends to implement to the appointment procedures for HSCL posts; the way these changes will impact on the affected schools (details supplied). [13780/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I wish to advise the Deputy that there is no curtailment to Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) Services, which is a major component of DEIS, (Delivering Equality of Opportunities in Schools), the action plan for educational inclusion. The current provision of HSCL services will remain in the 200 post-primary and 345 urban primary schools participating in DEIS. The process of allocating teaching resources to schools for the 2011-12 school year and the arrangements for filling vacant or new teaching positions takes place in the context of the Programme for National Recovery, the EU/IMF Programme of Support for Ireland and the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014.

In relation to the Programme for National Recovery and the EU/IMF Programme of Support for Ireland, it is necessary for my Department to exercise additional control and reporting measures this year to ensure the number of teachers employed in schools is consistent with those programmes. The existing arrangements continue to remain in place whereby schools can only fill their vacancies from the surplus permanent and CID holding teachers. It is not possible to permit schools to fill vacancies in any other manner until the surplus permanent teachers are redeployed. Schools with HSCL co-ordinator vacancies have been requested to hold off on making new appointments. Although HSCL co-ordinator appointments are made internally from among the staff of schools, the filling of the replacement post for the teacher deployed to undertake HSCL duties may have implications in relation to panel arrangements.

Given that there are 248 surplus permanent and CID holding teachers remaining on panels, my Department will not decide until 10 June 2011 (at the earliest) whether to give schools authority to commence recruitment in any other manner. My Department may decide at that stage to prioritise schools that have fully co-operated with the redeployment process. Discussions with the relevant education partners also include devising whatever additional arrangements are necessary to facilitate the redeployment of any remaining permanent and CID holding teachers (including 21 surplus permanent teachers that do not currently have access to a redeployment panel).